AJ44011 British Literature I (20th Century)

Faculty of Arts
Autumn 2014
Extent and Intensity
0/0/0. 4 credit(s) (plus 2 credits for an exam). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
doc. Mgr. Tomáš Kačer, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
Jeffrey Alan Vanderziel, B.A.
Department of English and American Studies – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Tomáš Hanzálek
Supplier department: Department of English and American Studies – Faculty of Arts
Timetable
each even Friday 14:10–15:45 G32
Prerequisites (in Czech)
AJ40999 Qualifying Examination || AJ41002 Practical English II
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is only offered to the students of the study fields the course is directly associated with.
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
The course aims at an overview of the literary production in prose, poetry and drama of the twentieth century. This is only possible if we focus on important developments, streams, movements or changes of direction and sample them on some works of just a few out of the many writers active in the period. The seminars will consist of short introductory lectures and discussion of critical essays, short stories and poems. Participants will also be required to read three novels from the period by writers of their choice. Students will acquire survey knowledge of the period and develop skills of critical reading of literary texts.
Syllabus
  • Week 1 (3 October): Modernism and the pre-WWII period, new genres; Readings: D. H. Lawrence: “Odour of Chrysanthemums” (a short story), Peter Childs: “Genres, Art and Film” in Modernism, 72-128. Week 2 (17 October): Modern British drama, war poets; Readings: John Osborne: Look Back in Anger (a play), J. L. Styan: “Twentieth-century developments and variations” in The English Stage, 360-414. Week 3 (14 November): Post-war novel, Angry Young Men; Readings: George Orwell: Nineteen Eighty-Four (a novel), Greg Londe: “Reconsidering Lucky Jim: Kingsley Amis and the Condition of England” in British Fiction after Modernism, 131-144. Week 4 (28 November): Beyond Realism, new historical fiction, post-modern challenges; Readings: A. S. Byatt: Possession: A Romance (a novel), Nick Bentley: “History, Memory and Writing” in Contemporary British Fiction, 128-59. Week 5 (12 December): Multicultural writing, feminism, plurality of voices; Readings: Hanif Kureishi: The Buddha of Suburbia (a novel), James Procter: “New Ethnicities, the Novel, and the Burdens of Representation” in A Concise Companion to Contemporary British Fiction, 101-120.
Literature
  • CARTER, Ronald and John MCRAE. The Routledge history of literature in English: Britain and Ireland. Edited by Malcolm Bradbury. London: Routledge, 1997, xix, 592. ISBN 0415123437. info
  • BRANNIGAN, John. Orwell to the present : literature in England, 1945-2000. Houndmills: Palgrave Macmillan, 2003, x, 244 s. ISBN 0-333-69616-6. info
  • HILSKÝ, Martin. Současný britský román. [Jinočany]: H & H, 1992, 191 s. ISBN 80-85467-00-3. info
  • FRANKOVÁ, Milada. Britské spisovatelky na konci tisíciletí (British Women Writers at the End of the Millennium). 1st ed. Brno: Masarykova univerzita v Brně, 1999, 206 pp. Spisy Masarykovy univerzity v Brně, FF, č. 325. ISBN 80-210-2148-9. info
  • FRANKOVÁ, Milada. Britské spisovatelky na přelomu tisíciletí (British Women Writers at the Turn of the Millennium). Brno: Masarykova univerzita v Brně, 2003. Spisy Masarykovy univerzity v Brně, 347. ISBN 80-210-3290-1. info
  • MASSIE, Allan. The novel today : a critical guide to the British novel, 1970-1989. London: Longman, 1990, vi, 97. ISBN 0582004071. info
  • STŘÍBRNÝ, Zdeněk. Dějiny anglické literatury. Vyd. 1. Praha: Academia, 1987, s. 421-837. info
  • The Norton anthology of English literature. Edited by M. H. Abrams. 5th ed. New York: W.W. Norton, 1986, xlvi, 2578. ISBN 0393954722. info
  • The novel today :contemporary writers on modern fiction. Edited by Malcolm Bradbury. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1977, 256 s. ISBN 0-7190-0677-5. info
  • SELDEN, Raman. A reader's guide to contemporary literary theory [27818]. Hertfordshire: Harvester Wheatsheaf, 1989. ISBN 0-7450-0602-7. info
  • WELLEK, René and Austin WARREN. Theory of literature. 3rd ed. London: Penguin Books, 1963, 374 s. ISBN 0-14-055028-3. info
  • EAGLETON, Terry. Literary theory :an introduction. Oxford: Blackwell, 1983, viii, 244. ISBN 0-631-13259-7. info
Assessment methods
class participation, response papers (four), final essay
Language of instruction
English
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
Study Materials
The course is taught once in two years.
General note: This course is NOT designated for Erasmus students! List of courses offerd by the Department of English and American studies for Erasmsus students is available at http://www.phil.muni.cz/wkaa/ under "Information for Erasmus students".
Information on the extent and intensity of the course: This course is NOT designated for Erasmus students! List of courses offerd by the Department of English and American studies for Erasmsus students is available at http://www.phil.muni.cz/wkaa/ under "Information for Erasmus students".
Teacher's information
http://www.phil.muni.cz/elf/course/category.php?id=4
The course is also listed under the following terms Autumn 2004, Autumn 2008, Autumn 2010, Autumn 2012, Autumn 2016, Autumn 2018.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Autumn 2014, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/phil/autumn2014/AJ44011